Mexico blocked a U.S. military plane from landing on Thursday, at least temporarily derailing the Trump administration's plans to deport immigrants to the country, according to two U.S. defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation.
Two Guatemalan-bound Air Force C-17 planes carrying about 80 people took the deportees out of the United States on Thursday evening, sources said. A third flight, destined for Mexico, never took off. It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the flight, but tensions between the United States and Mexico, neighbors and longtime allies, have risen since President Donald Trump's election victory in November.
Trump has threatened to impose a total of 25% tariffs on Mexican goods in response to migrants crossing the countries' shared border, but these have not yet been implemented.
